Blade (
daywalkingblade) wrote2012-08-17 12:57 pm
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First Date (Tag M-)
The black muscle car rumbled into the gravel parking lot of what looked to be a bar/saloon in the middle of nowhere, upstate New York. The place was south of Rochester by about forty miles. Above the entrance, a tacky red neon sign read "The Roadhouse". There was no one hanging around outside, but thee were several cars and motorcycles. It was pretty quiet for what one might expect of a bar, at least from the outside. As the car pulled to a stop, Blade glanced at his passenger. This was going to be...interesting. She was too pretty and far to classy for a place like this. Hell, she was probably too stunningly beautiful to be in this car with someone as rough around the edges as Blade. But here they were. People would notice as they went into the bar, but nobody would say anything. Of that fact at least, Blade was certain.
"We're here. Stay close, and order whatever you want. The food's actually pretty good, and the drinks are better. Once I get some information on where to find some suckheads, we'll be out." He flashed a little bit of a toothy grin. "Guess you could say this is the closest to a "date" portion of this outing as we'll get."
They both pushed their doors open and stood up out of the car. The parking lot remained silent. Hunters and mercenaries were probably inside drinking quietly, enjoying a bit of peace. There were the occasional loud, rowdy drinkers - usually the mercs - but most just wanted a place to rest and get information before the next big job. Also, most didn't trust the night enough to be drunk out in it. Blade knew the bartender inside. A good woman by the name of Ellen who really knew her shit. It was why he liked coming here. Of course, he knew the bartenders in most of the Roadhouses around the country. It was a bit of a chain, but not in the corporate sense. When a place was named "The Roadhouse" in some back country nowhere, it was a kind of secret sign to all hunters and some mercenaries that this was a safe haven and a good place to exchange information and get jobs. They were also neutral zones. Any who dared cause any trouble in these kinds of places was blacklisted, and that was as good as being fired in this line of work. In some cases, it was a death sentence because it also meant no assistance in any job ever again.
"You ready?"
"We're here. Stay close, and order whatever you want. The food's actually pretty good, and the drinks are better. Once I get some information on where to find some suckheads, we'll be out." He flashed a little bit of a toothy grin. "Guess you could say this is the closest to a "date" portion of this outing as we'll get."
They both pushed their doors open and stood up out of the car. The parking lot remained silent. Hunters and mercenaries were probably inside drinking quietly, enjoying a bit of peace. There were the occasional loud, rowdy drinkers - usually the mercs - but most just wanted a place to rest and get information before the next big job. Also, most didn't trust the night enough to be drunk out in it. Blade knew the bartender inside. A good woman by the name of Ellen who really knew her shit. It was why he liked coming here. Of course, he knew the bartenders in most of the Roadhouses around the country. It was a bit of a chain, but not in the corporate sense. When a place was named "The Roadhouse" in some back country nowhere, it was a kind of secret sign to all hunters and some mercenaries that this was a safe haven and a good place to exchange information and get jobs. They were also neutral zones. Any who dared cause any trouble in these kinds of places was blacklisted, and that was as good as being fired in this line of work. In some cases, it was a death sentence because it also meant no assistance in any job ever again.
"You ready?"
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Not that she thinks she'd blend with anything short of a full makeover once she sees the sign. She doesn't look like a merc, a merc's girlfriend, or someone who would go by herself to hire one. Not that she didn't have an inner femme fatale, but it wasn't the persona in play at the moment. So, she wouldn't bother trying, just smiling back at Blade with a hint of a wicked gleam.
"So this is your idea of a date? Well, I'm certainly bound to find some kind of interesting events in the near future."
She climbs out of the car and takes her hair out of the ponytail it had been in with a shake of her head. If she's going to be out of place, she's going to make the most of it. Make herself look like a danger junky or possibly some chick he saved from a vampire tailing after the handsome daywalker. Hair down, she could have tattoos or bite marks, or any of a dozen other things. She's a little too relaxed to pull it off when she nods in answer to Blade.
"Of course."
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With that, he lead the way into the bar. The inside delivered exactly what the outside promised. There were wood floors stained by countless splashes of spilled beer, warped booths ringing the outer wall, a few tables, and a large square bar in the center. The bar was where most of the action was at. Several men and women sat nursing drinks, conversing in quiet voices or chatting with Ellen when she wandered by, cleaning a glass with a rag. The only people in booths were those with secrets to discuss.
"Well look at that. Blade. In the flesh. What brings you here? Who's your girlfriend?"
Blade stepped up to the bar, took a seat, and clapped hands in a brief street handshake with her. "Her name is M. She's with me on this run."
"Em, huh?" An eyebrow went up, and she nodded. M was getting several side-eyes from the various hunters and the two mercs, but Ellen didn't seem to judge. "What run?"
"Whatever run you got."
Ellen smirked a little. "Ah. Looking for work. No shortage of that, I'm afraid. Vampires again? Or are you looking for a little something different this time?"
"Gimme suckheads."
"The usual, then. Well, you know the drill. You buy you and your lady friend a meal, and you get yourself some information."
Now it was Blade's turn to have his eyebrows go up. That wasn't usually the drill at all. He shook his head with a hint of a smirk. Of course Ellen would do that. "Fine. A steak. Rare. Whiskey to wash it down."
"Still honoring old Whistler, I see. And you, Em?"
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She flashes Ellen a warm smile, but leaves the talking to Blade. It's his world and his lingo. She's just along for the ride, much like in the car. Until she catches that Ellen is forcing an actual date on Blade, and her eyes actually twinkle. Ever more out of place, but not giving a damn.
"I'll have the same, though don't give me the shite that would be better used for paint thinner. You're obviously a woman of sufficient taste to know the difference." An Irish brogue rolls off her tongue, and despite the soft tone of her words, they carry well.
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Ellen set about pouring them glasses of her finest Irish whiskey on the rocks. She'd picked up on the Irish in her accent, and had a fair idea of what would please the woman. While she was doing it, she shouted the order back to the cook, who grunted and wandered away from the window to begin on the meal. When she was finished, she slapped the glasses down in front of them. They weren't the fanciest glasses in the world, but they were clean, and they had good whiskey in them, and she told them as much.
"And the job?" Blade took a sip and looked at her over the tops of his sunglasses.
"In that much of a rush? Trust me, you'll get the intel when you pay the tab." Blade started to reach into his pocket. "Ah ah...you don't have the bill yet."
"Then give me the bill."
She shook her head and tossed a grin at M-. "This one needs someone to teach him how to slow down and enjoy the whiskey." Ellen glanced back at Blade. "Not the way it works, hon. This is a nice meal. You don't pay until the end. Otherwise, how do you know how much to tip?"
"My tip'll-" Blade started to growl.
"-go down or up based on the intel you get, after you eat."
Blade huffed and sipped his whiskey. What else could he do?
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She watches the exchange between them and her amusement shines like a light in the dark. He really doesn't seem to get it, and it's not like Ellen is even attempting anything like subtlety with her blackmail. The second the bartender gives them a little space, she leans in to speak to Blade.
"It seems the lady thinks you need a social life, and is prepared to blackmail you into it. Do try to soothe my ego and their envy by looking less tortured by my nearness if you would."
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Then she was gone, and Blade glanced at M-, startled by her words. It'd be a lie to claim that he even knew the first part of what she said, let alone the last. Blackmail him into a social life? Well, he'd wondered just why the hell Ellen was playing hard to get with what had to be a simple location to find some suckheads. Now it made sense. And here he'd been joking about the date in the car.
What really got to him, though, was the idea that he'd look tortured by her nearness. He floundered for what to say to that, but most of it was inward. Blade didn't ever flail. She might have seen the surprise on his face, but that was about it. And of course she couldn't see through the ever-present sunglasses.
"I'm not tortured by you being here. Just trying to get to the hunt I promised you." He wasn't even fully comprehending yet that Ellen probably thought this was the most important part of their evening. He was still just focused on the hunt as the important element, because whether or not she could handle herself would make a huge deal in how he regarded what they could have together.
"I...want you here." The words were kind, but he glowered as he said them, unsure of why he even had to say them at all.
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M- is calm as she sips and watches Blade process the new information. Not exactly a dull boy, but definitely one who'd been all work for too long. There was clearly some kind of fight or something going on behind the glasses, and she really couldn't wait to see what it was.
"Consider this part of the hunt, then." Her tone is as soft and amused as she is. Poor man has probably never been on a reasonable date in his life, yet here he is.
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That he had to stop and consider. He'd liked her from the start, true. And he had always managed to show up where she was and have a good conversation. Dating hadn't even been on his mind; he'd just wanted to be near the beautiful, enigmatic woman with no memory. But if it was dating...was it much different from hunting?
Yeah, it had to be, he decided. When you hunted, you hunted lesser things and made sure they died. Dating involved finding an equal. Hunting got you a prize. Dating got you a partner.
"Already found you, though."
"Steaks're up." Two plates appear in front of them, each with a loaded potato on the side. Ellen didn't just talk a big game when it came to pleasing the Irish. "Enjoy, and let me know if you need anything else." She cut Blade off before he could start. "Aside from your intel. It's coming, I promise. But if you're smart, you'll take this to one of those booths. Little more private there."
Ah. Yes. Private. The intel had to be passed on in private. That made sense. Blade stood, taking both plates as he nodded. Then he started for an empty booth.
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She follows him over to the empty booth where she takes a seat across from him. He gets the fully glimmering light of her amusement that lights up her face.
"She expects me to flirt with you, you know, and for you to flirt back. It's understandable, really. You are a handsome man that I've followed into a den of hunters. Poor woman, thinking you could so easily be persuaded when vampires on your mind."
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That much was true. Any romance that had ever happened in his life had come to him without any effort on his part. Of course, that romance included one vampire woman in Europe that had died in his arms before any actual romance could be engaged in. That was probably for the best. While she was one of the very few vampires he'd ever encountered that had been anything other than a monster, if he had actually been involved with her the suckheads would have thrown that in his face for the rest of forever. While it wasn't something that would bother him, it would be really fucking annoying.
Not knowing what to say, he began to cut into his steak and take bites of it. It was good. Really good. But it wasn't good enough to take his mind off, well, everything.
"If anything could persuade me, it's the beautiful woman that followed me in here. But part of the issues is seeing how you handle yourself around vampires. Any other context, and I'd just say fuck the vampires. Part of the point of you is...trying to find something else in my life to give a damn about other than killing suckheads."
He sighs. "I made some promises to the old man too, but this is one I haven't had any idea how to follow through on. Still don't. You just kinda fell into my lap."
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"A man never gets too old to learn."
She produces a small set of her own silverware, which is literally silver from a pocket, and starts on her own food. Of course it might tip a few hunters off, but dying or scorching her own lips on the provided silverware really wasn't work the risk. Especially not when his words were distracting her with his words. Hmm. The point of her is very interesting on it's own.
"I think you will find yourself surprised."
She says it about both her way with the fight and about the promise she can only guess at. Which comes clear, when she pulls off one of the leather gloves to allow herself to reach over and run her finger lightly over the bottom of his lip to catch a hint of juice that spilled over his lip.
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"Dunno. They say past a certain age, you can never be fluent in a language. Way I figure it, flirting is another language. If I'm right, then I'm just fucked."
His eyes followed her very neat, delicate way of eating with her own silverware. Literally silver, at that. Huh. He glanced around, but no other hunters were looking this way. The booths were private, and most respected that. Probably a good thing, although he was pretty sure not many here would recognize the significance of her choice of metals. Most knew that silver was bad for supernatural creatures. Hell, she had weapons that could help fuck up a vampire or werewolf in her choice of dining utensils.
But Blade had a pretty good idea of what it meant. He'd hunted a wider range of the supernatural than most. Without a word at first, he reached over and moved the steel silverware away from her.
"Well, good news is you've got your own makeshift weapons if a suckhead gets too close." He picked up the fork and looked it, twirling it around in the low light. "Other news is that if you're avoiding this, you're fae if you haven't figured it out yet. And apparently a former fae queen, if your Redman is right. And you do cold and dark. Unseelie. A former queen of the Unseelie fae. Strange would eat this shit up."
Blade regarded her for several moments, his expression, as usual, unreadable behind his sunglasses. Then he quirked a bit of a smile. "Nicest Unseelie I've ever met. Prettiest, too. Just don't advertise it around here. Better safe than sorry, but I'm betting not many people here have too much experience with fae. I'm also betting that if they have, it hasn't been good."
He tilted his head to the side after taking another thoughtful bite of his steak. "But you aren't that person now. You're just an M, finding out if she can hunt vampires. And if you can do that, you're good in my books."
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He tilted his head to the side after taking another thoughtful bite of his steak. "But you aren't that person now. You're just an M, finding out if she can hunt vampires. And if you can do that, you're good in my books."
"Old people learn new languages when they most, of this I'm certain. And you've never had a solid reason to flirt before." She grins at him with a hint of lascivious light in her eyes. She really should resist temptation, but it's just not her nature. "And then, maybe you really will be fucked."
It's just enough to let him have the time to move her stainless silverware away. Protective, which was about as surprising as nothing at all. He spent his whole life keeping people he probably didn't have enough time to connect with safe. She was probably one of the few people he'd talk to regularly, and he knew she was interested in him. Protective only made sense. It also meant that he was paying close enough attention to the quirks in her eating habits.
"I have a feeling those words, fae and unseelie, are loaded. They don't mean very much to me. The others, though. Those are good, and so I am M- and you will see what that means with what I still am."
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Although, truth be told, Blade wasn't a virgin, but he was relatively close to one. He'd had one night stands fucking women who didn't matter a very few times in the past. Most said he was good, but he knew that was probably only because he was naturally gifted in the stamina department. If he'd never had the time to learn to flirt, then he sure as hell hadn't had the time to learn how to really please a woman. That didn't mean the man in him didn't want to, though, especially now as he turned his gaze ever so slightly away from the distraction of his work. It took a stunning woman like M- here to actually make him shift his gaze. Well, better late than never.
"That's the kind of fucked I think I'd like. But I guess we'd both be lacking in experience in our own ways..."
He shook his head. "Yeah, they're loaded. Seelie are the Tinkerbells. Usually better regarded because they're usually prettier. Least in the conventional sense. But they can be some nasty fucks sometimes. Unseelie, on the other hand, can actually be nastier when they want to be, but least they don't try to hide it. They are what they are. They fulfill the balance, or some shit like that. Cold, dark, and death are necessary, or so they say." He grunts. "Doesn't mean I condone them spreading any of the above on my turf."
Blade shrugged, looking up at her as he finished his steak. "They usually aren't as pretty as you. I'll admit, I've killed more of them than the Seelie, but not a one didn't deserve it. You go on and be M-. I'll help you do it. But now we know what might be coming after you eventually if they think you're still their queen. Shit might get real, but I won't let anything happen to you."
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"All the more reason to get a little practice."
The familiarity of what he says should be vaguely upsetting. 'Seelie' manages to bring something close to a sneer. Some things are too deeply ingrained to be forgotten. Besides, she's entirely certain that light, heat, and life can be just as or more cruel than the things he's mentioned. A vague instinct of the things that can be done to someone who is not allowed to die makes death seem like a kindness. But she doesn't feel the need to explain that at the moment. Instead her expression becomes calm and thoughtful.
"It seems quite fortunate that you and I are going to see exactly what I'm capable of, then."
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He caught the sneer at the mention of seelie, but he didn't remark on it. Yeah, he knew from what he'd researched under Strange's guidance that the two had a kind of eternal civil war going on. The sneer proved that, memory or no, she was what she was. It'd be like a vampire that didn't remember it was a vampire smelling blood and lunging for it. Fact was, he knew that she could be a monster under the lack of memory, but she wasn't now, and he intended to protect her from herself, if it came down to it. Somebody might come along and try to restore her memory, but that would kill the woman sitting across from him now and he'd be damned if he saw that happen without a fight.
Still..."Hey M-. What's the risk that somebody will try to come and kill you by bringing out what you used to be, do you think? Because..." He had to look away now. Emotions were HARD. "I don't want to lose you. And if you think you're going to become somebody else...I dunno if I can take that after coming to like you now."
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The thing about the woman in front of him is that she isn't human. That's enough for some people and some places to label her a monster, regardless of what she does. She'll never think exactly like a human, never react exactly like one. Courting him, and she doesn't exactly doubt she's the one doing the courting, is courting a risk. He can't make peace with the part of him that is inhuman, and that draws her.
"I don't know who I will come to be. A person checked my head, and apparently it's devastation in there. Which means I've only begun to be who I am. There are no promises about the final product. If that's too much for you? I understand."
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"It ain't too much for me. Because I think that means I get a say in it. Not that I'd tell you what to do or who to be, but...just being around me might shape that final product. Maybe I can help you like the old man helped me once. Good Karma, if I believed in it. Mostly I just want to help make a woman that I still want to be around. Is that...okay?"
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"I think that it's just fine. Whoever stays around has to be in for the ride, which means someone who can survive it. I think you can survive it just fine."
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"Survival is what I do." He grins a little. "But I need to stop saying that to you. Otherwise I become a broken record, and the point is to become something new, right?"
"All right. Here's the bill, and here's your tip." Ellen was suddenly there, as if she'd been waiting for the right moment to not interrupt something important. She actually looked just the tiniest bit disappointed, but there was a gleam to her eye too. "There's a nest about twenty miles east of here. Word is, they're playing hitchhiker only to lure people back to their place. I'd like to think they're just draining their victims, but I've heard it's worse. They're trying to boost their numbers by turning as many as they can. You'll have your work cut out for you if you can find the nest."
Blade nodded, and put down cash without even looking at the bill. It was more than enough for the meal and a generous tip. Ellen looked at it and raised her eyebrows, but smiled at him. "Thanks, hon. Guess you liked the intel?"
"And everything else." His eyes didn't lift from M- to see her smile widen.
"Good. Now you both get out of here. I'll make sure the silverware looks used." She was sharp, but Blade had known that. She was one of the best in her own right.
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"The point is to explore something new, too. Being a little bit of your old self is hardly a sin."
M- didn't let her eyes drift over to Ellen. Not with the way Blade kept his look on her even as the information goes on. His eyes are hypnotic in their own way, and she wonders if she isn't a little caught by him. Definitely more than a little caught when he gives the generous tip and comments about what else he's thanking her for.
"Clever and kind."
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His gaze finally broke from hers to stand. It was probably a little amazing that he could hold her eyes through sunglasses, but it was pretty much a habit by this point. Blade was okay without the sunglasses, but he preferred them because most light was just intense enough to bother him, especially during the day. Ironically, most vampires dealt with it better than he chose to, but most of them were trying to fake being human. He wasn't. At least, he wasn't any more than necessary to pass through human society.
"She is." He answered M-'s comment, although she could have been talking about either him or Ellen. Either way, he preferred that the complement go to Ellen than himself. "Let's roll."
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"Good meal, Ellen."
And then she's working on her way out the door after Blade.
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Once they were in and buckled, he flipped on some techno hip-hop that he was fond of, threw the car into reverse, and rocketed off down the lesser used highway. Twenty miles east put the site in a secluded area that was still a necessary artery for going back and forth from Rochester to other parts of the state. Given time, the vampires could really build up their numbers. Given more time, they might decide to move into the city. But they wouldn't be given that time. Blade and M- were going to nip this nest in the bud.
"Alright, here's the plan. Probably going to run across one of these hitchhikers she mentioned. In about five miles, I'm gonna pull the car over and put you in the driver's seat. I'll be crouched in the back. Suckheads like the pretty ones. You'll be a motherfucking honeypot for the little shits. Gorgeous, alone, clearly not from around the area, and ripe for the turning. You lure whichever one is on hitchhiker duty in, I incapacitate it, and we find a way to torture the information about where the nest is out of the bloodsucker. Maybe your freezing thing'll come in useful for that. Most of 'em are weak little pussies and don't take much pain to talk, but you never know."
He flashed a grin at her, his own sharper incisors making it very predatory. "Somehow I doubt even the most stubborn of them will want a slow death by freezing." His gaze returned to the road. "Think you can handle it? You're the star of this first stage of the extermination."
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The music is interesting. Nothing that M- is aware of, but interesting enough to fill the silence until Blade talks. The plan is one of those classic things that lasts because it works. Let the predator think they're hunting until they're too distracted for anything else. Wrapped in compliments that aren't quite compliments, but details in a plan.
Her smile is a subtle thing. A slight quirk of her lips and shift of her brow. "I have no doubt that I can. The only thing that surprises me is that you'd let me drive your car."
Apologies for the delay...it's the first week of the semester at a new university!
Not a problem. I was kind of wonderign if that was the case.
It's been crazy! Fun, but crazy. New jobs always are, I guess!
Especially the beginning of the school year.
Lesson 1 - Parking is no better for profs than it is for students. -_-
The same rule goes for highschool teachers if they don't show up at the buttcrack before dawn
Yikes! Yeah, it's a pain because you pay for a parking pass and can't park! Grr
Ugh. That's not fair. Or shocking.
Nickle and dime, nickel and dime. I love universities, but they do nickel and dime you a lot.
I swear I replied to this days ago.
It's all good. You know me...I've had that happen more times than I can COUNT so I can't talk!
I appreciate it!
I seriously think I write posts out in my mind and forget to type and send them sometimes.
I know for a fact I do that. Also, pretend you didn't see that.
See what? ;)
;]
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wth do I keep doing?
I dunno! I was curious, but I don't mind.
To compensate for the weirdness I pulled my blade movies down for a watch
They will always hold a special place in my heart. Especially the first one. So much love...
The first one was my favorite movie from like age 11 to 15 or so...
I'll admit, I still have yet to find another to replace it as my stated favorite movie...
I have the same issue at the moment. Fido is close, but not quite there
I had not known of Fido until I just looked it up! I may have to find that one now.
It was one of the better uses of netflicks I've ever had.
I'll see if it's still there, although my internet in the new apt here SUCKS. }:/
Ugh, that sucks.
Capped at 3mbps on the highest tier. And usually it's less than 1. But presumably, Comcast is coming
Comcast needs to come quickly for your sake.
Tell me about it..their WORST tier is 20mbps I think.
...A whole order of magnitude better.
Yeah..oi. I patiently watch Supernatural right now with LOTS of buffering. That's a kind of love.
a very special, very determined love.
Indeed. I'm late to that show's party, but I do love it so now.
I watched it before it got angel filled. It's a good show.
I'm in S4, where the angels first show up. I hear the post S5 seasons get a little rocky though :/
There are still people who love them, so maybe you'll be one of them!
Probably will be...been addicted to ghost stories since I learned to read!
Re: Probably will be...been addicted to ghost stories since I learned to read!
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I somehow knew that would happen eventually. Have a bit of surreality in your RP!
Somewhere in your head DP is dealing with the body switch somehow, isn't he?
Yeeeaahh...whooboy.
Poor DP, bad, bad timing.
And the guilt! He's trying to leave her to be her without interferance!
She has feelings about that. FEELINGS.
Oh dear...that may mean more hard conversations for him...
That would require a conversation.
You say as I see a post from Maeve on the board!
She had to speak up, of course.
And he had to respond. I don't think he'll ever not love her somehow.
Re: And he had to respond. I don't think he'll ever not love her somehow.
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